I thrust my sword
into the sheath, and went over. It added somewhat to my weight in the
water, and it sunk my body below the surface, but with the aid of my hands
paddling I floated so that only my nose and mouth were above the water; so
that it is little wonder that they could not make me out. I landed on the
other bank a quarter of a mile beyond the walls, slept in the forest,
started this morning from Versailles, where I got rid of my other clothes
and bought these. I purchased this basket and the vegetables at Sevres,
then walked boldly in. No one could have seen my face in the darkness, and
therefore I am safe from detection, perhaps safer than I was before."
"Well done, Master Guy; they would have killed you assuredly if they had
caught you."
"It was not that that I was afraid of--it was of being taken prisoner. You
see, if they had captured me and carried me before the butchers in order
to inquire who I was before cutting my throat, they might have put me to
the torture and forced me to say who I was, and where my mistress was in
hiding. I hope if they had, that I should have stood out; but none can say
what he will do when he has red-hot pincers taking bits out of his flesh,
and his nails, perhaps, being torn out at the roots. So even if I could
not have swam a stroke I should have jumped off the bridge."
"You did well, Master Guy," the archer said admiringly; "for indeed they
say that the strongest man cannot hold out against these devilish
tortures.
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